Education ministry data released earlier this month showed that only 84.9 percent of public elementary and junior high school buildings in Fukushima Prefecture had been quake-proofed as of April 1, 10.7 points below the national average.
Of the 2,053 buildings, 310 still need renovation and 67 are likely to collapse if a quake measuring upper 6 or higher on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 strikes the area.
Even though the figure was second-worst among the 47 prefectures, the municipalities in question lack the funds for the renovations because they are putting priority on decontamination and recovery from the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdowns. The rise in prices of construction materials isn't helping either, they say.